Rick Perry Says Prayer, Not Gun Control, Will Keep American Children Safe From Violence (HuffPost)

Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) has revealed his own plan for combating America's violence problem -- and it differs from President Barack Obama's on a key point. Specifically, the former presidential candidate said that instead of enacting tougher gun control legislation, Americans should simply pray for protections.

Obama unveiled new gun legislation Wednesday, recommending a host of Congressional measures supplemented by 23 executive actions to be carried out immediately.

The announcement, which may be the most sweeping effort to tighten laws in a generation, marked the culmination of a month-long review process led by Vice President Joe Biden.

In his own statement, Perry acknowledged the problem of violence in the U.S. but said enacting tougher gun laws was not the right way to solve it, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Perry said that there was "evil prowling" in the world that has appeared in television and movies, and then found its way into vulnerable minds.

"As a free people, let us choose what kind of people we will be. Laws, the only redoubt of secularism, will not suffice. Let us all return to our places of worship and pray for help. Above all, let us pray for our children."

Perry also assailed the liberal media and politicians for attempting to use the Sandy Hook shooting for a political end "that would not have saved those children," according to the Chronicle.

Wonderful. A government official who basically renounces the efficacy of government in favor of prayer to a supernatural being who is notoriously not in evidence, yet is supposed to cure ALL of our ills and bring some kind of golden age. The naivete, irresponsibility and idiotic presumption Rick Perry displays in this instance simply goes beyond the pale. I mean, why should we need a government at all? Just pray to Perry's god and we should all be good to go, right? That's worked fine in the past, hasn't it?

Replies to This Discussion

I would, but I'm in a different state. We'll have a lot of stupid stuff coming through, once our new jackass governor takes over, though.

Well, he's already in place, but the state congress hasn't done much of anything, yet. Give them a few more weeks, and we'll have all of the stuff that got vetoed under the old governor coming right back around.

... the focus should be on those who distribute guns, not solely on those who buy them.

"The gun industry is cloaked in secrecy," Bradford says. "We found that 1 percent of gun dealers are responsible for 45 to 60 percent of guns involved in crimes. These dealers divert new guns intended for responsible owners to those that gun restrictions are meant to keep away from the weapons."

Safeguards are reasonable and popular policies, such as background checks, for shipping dangerous things. Bradford says, shockingly, there are numerous gun manufacturers that do not require their collaborators to safeguard. His research found a negative relationship between implementing safeguards and guns being used in crimes.

"That's pretty significant," Bradford says. "The problem lies in where new guns are sent by manufacturers.

But those dealers are great at moving large amounts of product, because ... you know, they don't bother with those strict governmental controls that prevent other dealers from selling to so many people who want guns.

Yeah, I know what you mean. There are plenty of good individuals, but when you look at what the bulk of the country is doing, particularly when it comes to politics and religion, I just feel so much disgust, at times.

Almost worse than the hardcore-fundie social-conservatives are the mushy ones in the middle, who vote for a president based upon the most arbitrary, mindless crap. Some of the individual reasons I've heard are freaking scary. Someone voted for Mitt Romney because his name was a lot like her cat, Mittens.